Ericsson signs contract for the expansion of BT's FLEX

Ericsson signs contract for the expansion of BT's FLEX@ Ericsson and British Telecom (BT) have signed a contract for the expansion of BT's FLEX@ high speed messaging network and the upgrade from 3,200 bit/s to 6,400 bit/s FLEX@. This is the third expansion order signed between BT and Ericsson and the planned network will be the largest in Europe. Altogether, Ericsson has installed more than 500 base stations including more than 2,000 COMPACT 9000@ transmitters in the BT network. The latest order includes more than 100 new base stations including two or four COMPACT 9000@ IV transmitters each and the relocation of more than fifty of the existing base stations. Existing base stations already transmit FLEX@ at 3,200 bit/s mixed with POCSAG on two of the existing four channels. The new network upgrade gives BT migration route to FLEX 6,400 bit/s mixed with POCSAG on those two channels. Due to stringent requirements for tighter specification on radio network planning for FLEX 6400 bit/s, the new network will require additional sites and resitting some of the existing sites together with reconfiguration of some of the existing base station aerials. With mirrored central sites and dual redundant satellite uplinks, together with a Teleport connection, Ericsson has designed BT's distribution network to cope with all disaster recovery scenarios. The standby site is able to automatically take over in the event of an emergency at the main paging center. BT has also implemented Ericsson's Zone Backup Control system, which offers the availability to restore satellite data on an individual, zonal or network wide basis - resulting in extremely high network availability. In the new contract BT will be carrying out the radio planning for the network. Ericsson will have responsibility to provide turnkey solution involving new sites acquisitions, existing sites relocation, existing aerials reconfiguration, installation of new aerials and satellite dishes and two channel base stations. Ericsson is also responsible for the overall program management. Ericsson´s 100,000 employees are active in more than 130 countries. Their combined expertise in fixed and mobile networks, mobile phones and infocom systems makes Ericsson a world-leading supplier in telecommunications. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Hans Grimlund,Regional Manager EMEA Marketing and Sales, Ericsson Radio Messaging AB, Sweden Phone: +46 8 7575934, Email: hans.grimlund@erm.ericsson.se Farid Dastyar,Account Executive for wide area paging, Ericsson Ltd., United Kingdom Phone: +44-1444-234184, Email: farid.dastyar@ericsson.com Petra Lundmark, Product Marketing Manager Ericsson Radio Messaging Phone: +46 8 404 2812, or +46 70 554 2512 COMPACT 9000@ is a trademark owned by Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson, Sweden. FLEX@ is a trademark registered by Motorola Inc.